We Are Warriors

Yellow-skinned warriors,
Not over-achieving worriers,
We’re becoming the majority,
No more model minorities,
Cut that collar off our necks,
Cut that dollar off our cheques,
We don’t do it for safe no more,
We don’t study med and law, no more,
We are warriors,
No longer followers.

Offspring of conquerors,
Poets and philosophers,
Not hungry mongrels looking,
For scraps they toss to us,
Clawed our way
For less than minimum pay,
So excuse us,
If we enjoy our stay,
So excuse us,
If we have our say,
Loud, Proud and twixt the crowd,
Our say quells nay-say
from twixt the fray,
Lays foe down low,
Like blow from 锤.

Growing up, I never felt like being Chinese, or by extension Asian, was ever cool. It was never something I felt particularly proud of. It was never anything that held much meaning for me.

The older I grow however, the more I recognise the legacy that runs in my blood and in my words. Our culture, language and people have its own history with its own significance. Thousands of years of knowledge and teachings. Some of the noblest acts of heroism and sacrifice, and some of the lowest wrong-doings. At one point the height of civilisation and culture, powerful art and poetry. A history bigger than myself.

And that is something significant.

I wrote this to tell myself, that this is bigger than whatever dog-eating jokes they made or stereotypes about math they forced onto us. Bigger than all the times they cast us as the nerd or removed us completely. Bigger than all the eyes pulled back at us. Bigger than all the lies told to us.